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1 SNAKE BITE
Have you ever teased an animal? What did your elders have to say to you? How did the animal react? Did you think about how the animal felt? In this story, the narrator Raja, is an innocent young boy. He is adventurous and likes to meddle with creatures like snakes and bees. His grandparents are concerned about his well-being and safety. Once when a bee stings him, they think he has been bitten by a snake. His grandfather takes him to a man whom he believes can cure snake bite. Let us read the story and see what happens.
OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson you will be able to: discuss the theme of the story; relate to the feelings and behaviour of reptiles and other living creatures; think critically about peoples superstitions and blind faith in untrained medicine men; think critically about the myth that all snakes are dangerous; realise the importance of timely and effective communication; realise that silence is not always good; realise that silence is not always good; use some new words in meaningful sentences; give the past tense form of some commonly used verbs; discriminate between regular and irregular verbs; form adverbs from adjectives and use them appropriately; frame requests and enquiries, and write short descriptions of people. 1
Snake Bite
Notes
crawling: moving slowly pulling the body along the ground in alarm: in anxiety, (here) in fear shell: hard outer covering of coconut or nuts learnt: gained knowledge (here) was told cure: treatment recite: say something aloud vessel: a container to hold liquid
Snake Bite
Notes
Snake Bite II. Match the words in Column A with their opposites in Column B Notes Column A 1. quietly 2. slowly 3. went 4. dangerous Column B a. b. c. d. came harmless noisily quickly
DO YOU KNOW
There are about 2000 species of snakes in the world. All snakes are not poisonous. In India there are 270 species of which only 70 are poisonous. Some Indian species are the cobra, the krait, the Flower snake, the rat snake, the python, and the Russells viper. Snakes have good vision. All snakes are colour blind. Snakes have different habitats; some snakes live in holes, others in warm seas, semi deserts, swamps, and trees. The biggest snake in the world is the Anaconda, found in the jungles of South America; it can grow to the size of a full grown man. The smallest snake can be just ten centimetres long.
Snake Bite B. Friend: You: Friend: You: Friend: Do you have a spare pencil? Yes, I do. May I borrow it? I have forgotten to bring mine. Of course. Here you are. Thank you. Notes
When you ask someone to do something for you, or ask for permission to do something, it is important to sound polite. Here are some ways in which you can do this. Requesting someone to do something for you: Could you shut the door for me, please? Would you mind passing the paper, please? Can you suggest a movie I could watch over the weekend? Asking someone for permission to do something: Can I use your computer, please? Could you lend me some money? Do you mind if I turn on the fan? Exercise Now use the examples given above to make simple requests. Ask your friend for some help in doing something, ask for directions to go somewhere, or ask for a dictionary. 1.2.2 PART 2 Later in the evening .................... lived there. Do you like playing with animals? Did you or anyone you know ever get scratched by a cat or bitten by a dog while playing? How did your parents react to this? Raja is curious about creatures like snakes and bees. In the evening when he tries to catch a bee he gets stung. He runs for help to his grandmother and shows her the sting, she immediately thinks that it is a snake bite. His grandfather looks at the bite and thinks exactly the same thing. He picks him up and runs to the house of a man who he believes can help them. Raja does not get a chance to tell any one that he has been bitten by a bee and not a snake. Sometimes people misunderstand and react to situations without listening or asking questions. Has this ever happened to you?
Snake Bite
Notes I
Snake Bite III. Read the following sentences. 1. Snakes hiss. 2. Bees buzz. 3. Cats mew. 4. Parrots talk. The underlined words denote the sounds made by the creatures mentioned in the above sentences. Now match the names of the animals in Column A with their sounds in Column B. Column A 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. lions elephants donkeys monkeys cows bears Column B a. b. c. d. e. f. bray chatter growl trumpet roar low Notes
DO YOU KNOW
Bees live in colonies or hives of 50,000 bees on an average. Bees have an inborn ability to communicate. Bees language is a language of smells and dancing. Bees sting only in self defence. After stinging, a bee dies instantly. A bee sting is painful. When stung by a bee one should remove the stinger as quickly as possible. The use of an ice pack reduces the swelling and the pain of a bee sting.
Snake Bite
Notes
LET US DO 1.1
Complete the following crossword with the help of the given clues. All the words are from the story. One has been done for you.
2
E
4
C F E
3
P S
ACROSS: 1. 2. 3. 5. Children learn to move like this on four limbs before they can walk. (5 letters) A reptile (5 letters) The boy got malaria because he was ______ by mosquitoes. (past participle of the verb to bite - 6 letters) Rice fields are known as ___________fields (5 letters)
DOWN: 1. 2. 3. 4. A fruit with a hard covering (7 letters) A reptile (5 letters) A metal (5 letters) A part of the body (6 letters)
1.2.3 PART 3 An old gray haired man.................Grandfather sent him gifts. When you fall ill or get hurt you usually go to a doctor if you live in a city or town. But in most villages doctors are not easily available. So villagers usually go to the village medicine man for help. This is what happens with Raja too. Rajas grandparents think that the bee sting on his finger is a snake bite. His grandfather picks him up and runs across the fields to the house of a medicine man. The medicine man convinces them that Rajas life is in danger 8
English Secondary Course
Snake Bite because of the poisonous snake bite. Rajas finger stops hurting before the medicine man gives him any treatment, but Raja does not tell anyone this. The medicine man makes Rajas grandparents believe that Raja is safe because of his treatment and mantras. Rajas grandfather thanks the medicine man by giving him gifts, but Raja knows that the old man is a liar and has fooled everybody.
Notes
Snake Bite
Notes
LET US DO 1.2
In the box given below there is a list of adjectives which can be used for Raja, his grandparents or the old man. Write them in column A, B or C as the case may be. You may take the help of a dictionary to know the meanings of the given words. caring, simple, obedient, affectionate, pretender, superstitious, nervous, innocent, gullible, adventurous, concerned, innocent, clever A Raja Task 1. Visit 10 houses in your neighbourhood to find out how people react and what they do if there is a crisis like snake bite or dog bite. How many households go to untrained medicine men, nearby hospitals, private doctors or use home remedies? Enter this information into the table given below.
House no. Private doctors Untrained medicine men/ magic curers Hospitals Home remedies
B Grandparents
C Old man
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Task 2. Explain the advantage of going to doctor/hospital, to the people who go to untrained medicine men for treatment.
Snake Bite Regular verbs Read the following sentences appearing in the story: 1. Grandmother was shocked to see the snake in the coconut shell. 2. She called out to Grandfather. 3. They reached a small house. 4. Then he shouted for the man who lived there. The underlined verbs are in the simple past tense; they refer to actions that happened in the past. To form simple past tense verbs from simple present tense verbs we just add -d or -ed to the verb. Notes
e.g. shock + ed = shocked call + ed= called reach + ed = reached shout + ed = shouted live + d = lived dive + d = dived like + d = liked These verbs are regular verbs because they have -d or -ed endings as a regular feature in the past tense.
Irregular Verbs Read the following sentences: 1. I took the shell and ran to Grandmother. 2. He snatched the shell and threw it away. 3. Look, Grandma, I caught a snake. The underlined verbs are irregular verbs; they do not end in -d or -ed. All verbs do not take the d or ed endings to form the past tense. In some verbs there is a change in spellings in the past tense form as you see in the above sentences. Examples: simple present tense take throw catch
English Secondary Course
Snake Bite Given below are some more examples of irregular verbs: run hear bring buy deal bind ran heard brought bought dealt bound
Notes
Some verbs remain the same in the past tense as they are in the present tense. Examples: We put (simple present tense) some extra sugar in our tea. I am sorry I put (simple past tense) salt instead of sugar yesterday.
Exercise 1 Find five examples each of past tense forms of regular and irregular verbs in the story. Exercise 2 Write the simple past tense of the following verbs. Put them in column A (regular) or column B (irregular) as the case may be. draw, walk, manage, hold, ask, forgive, drive, meet, swim, repair, shake, cook, ring, clean, enjoy, bear, lead, cheat, write, eat, Exercise 3 Give two examples of verbs that are the same in the present and past tense. Adverbs Read the following sentences. She reads the newspaper. She reads the newspaper silently.
In the first sentence reads is an action word (verb). In the second sentence silently tells us how she reads i.e. it tells us something more about the verb. It is an adverb. As you know verbs are action words. Adverbs are words that tell us something more about verbs.
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Snake Bite Read the following sentences. He speaks loudly. She walks slowly. She dresses up beautifully. He walks fast. Notes
The underlined words are adverbs. Usually adverbs are formed by adding ly to adjectives. Examples: loud + ly = loudly slow + ly = slowly beautiful + ly = beautifully
However, some adverbs are exceptions to this rule. We do not add ly to some adjectives to make adverbs. For example we say I walk fast. We do not say I walk fastly. Exercise 4 Form adverbs from the adjectives and use them in your own sentences. neat, nice, soft, clear, elegant, careful, regular, graceful
LET US DO 1.3
1. Do you know that there are several branches of Traditional Medicine in India? Some examples are Ayurveda, Homeopathy, and Unani. Speak with a doctor in your locality to understand the difference between Western Medicine (Allopathy) and Traditional Medicine (Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Unani). Speak with your mother and write down a list of things found at home that she uses to cure simple ailments. For example she might use ginger for stomach upsets.
2.
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Snake Bite Age: Notes Physical features: Dress: Behaviour: Special points: old tall, stout , white beard, grey hair, shrewd looks, long white robe and a skull-cap polite and gentle intelligent
This is what Raja wrote: An old grey haired man came out of the hut. He was short and stout and had a white beard. He wore a long white robe and a skull-cap. He looked quite shrewd and intelligent. He was also very polite and gentle. Exercise In about 6 or 7 simple sentences write a description of a person with the help of the hints given below. Name: Age Physical features: Nature: Hobbies: Profession: _________ 35 years tall, heavy built, fair complexion, sharp nose simple, friendly, helpful, kind singing, reading teaching
TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1. What do you think Raja felt when he had to sit in front of the old man to be treated for a snake-bite?
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Snake Bite 2. Why do you think Rajas grandfather did not let Raja speak? Do you approve of Rajas silence? 3. In your opinion what kind of a person was the old man? 4. If you were the old man would you accept the gifts sent by Rajas grandfather? Give reasons for your answer. 5. Many people are afraid of snakes. Why do they fear snakes? Do you think they are right? Give reasons for your answer.
Notes
ANSWERS
1.2.1 PART 1 INTEXT QUESTIONS 1.1 1. ..because it was scared of human beings. 2. Raja put a stone on the mouth of the coconut shell to close it. 3. Rajas grandmother was shocked to hear that Raja had brought home a snake. She cried for help. 4. Individual responses. II. 1. F 2. T 3. T 4. F
LET US LEARN NEW WORDS 1.1 I. 1. near II 1. quietly 2. slowly 3. went 4. dangerous 1.2.2 PART 2 INTEXT QUESTIONS 1.2 I. 1. because Raja tried to catch it. 2. because he was in pain and wanted his grandmother to help him stop the pain. 3. Grandmother thought that a snake had bitten Raja because he told her that he had been bitten, and because he had brought home a snake in the morning. 2. closed c. noisily d. quickly a. came b. harmless 3. disappeared 4. never
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Snake Bite 4. Individual responses. Notes Suggested response: Rajas grandmother should have spoken to him and asked him to tell what had happened. 5. Individual responses II. 1. T 2. F 3. F 4. T 5. F
LET US LEARN NEW WORDS 1.2 I. 1. mark II. 1. finger III. 1. lions 2. elephants 3. donkeys 4. monkeys 5. cows 6. bears LET US DO 1.1 Crossword Across 1. crawl
1 2
2. some distance away 2. pain roar trumpet bray chatter low growl
N W
A L
N C R A K E
3
2. snake 3. bitten 5. paddy Down 1. coconut 2. snake 3. brass 4. finger 1.2.3 PART 3 INTEXT QUESTIONS 1.3
O C O N U T
I B I D T D T Y E N G E R R
A S S
Snake Bite 2. i. took some water in a vessel ii. recited mantras 3. Everybody was sad and silent because they thought Raja had been bitten by a snake and his life was in danger. 4. Grandfather sent gifts to the old man as a reward for curing Raja. 5. No, the old man did not cure Raja. The old man knew how to cure snake bite, but Raja did not have a snake bite. He had a bee sting, and his bee sting stopped hurting before the old man washed his finger and gave him water to drink. 6. Individual responses II. 1. F 2. T 3. T 4. T Notes
LET US LEARN NEW WORDS 1.3 1. tight 5. old LET US DO 1.2 A Raja obedient Innocent adventurous B Grandparents caring simple affectionate superstitious nervous gullible concerned C old man pretender clever 2. sad 6. danger 3. silently 4. quiet
1.3 LET US LEARN GRAMMAR Exercise 1 Simple past tense verbs appearing in the story Regular verbs Irregular verbs shocked snatched warned wanted happened hid went thought held gave 17
Snake Bite Exercise 2 Notes A (regular) walked managed asked repaired cooked cleaned enjoyed cheated B (irregular) drew held forgave drove met swam shook rang bore led wrote ate Exercise 3 let Exercise 4 Adverbs neatly carefully nicely regularly softly gracefully clearly elegantly cut
TERMINAL QUESTIONS 1. Individual responses Suggested response: he might have felt restless and helpless. 2. Individual responses. Suggested response: Rajas grandfather did not let him speak because he was very sure about what was wrong with Raja and about what had to be done. He did not want to waste time talking about it because he believed Rajas life was in danger. If I was in Rajas place I might have freed myself from my grandfathers arms and run away. However, I do not approve of Rajas silence, he should have told his father the reality. 3. Individual responses Suggested response: He was shrewd and dishonest. 4. Individual responses 5. Individual responses 18
English Secondary Course